Hersheypark Stadium

Reviews 3

PO

Portia Cloud

Its much easier just to supply the condensed version of an email I sent to Hershey Stadium Services (with whom I will be chatting with tomorrow in response to the complaint)... "I have found your venue to be ill-organized and many of your usher/security staff unprofessional. I attended the Maroon 5 concert (8/15/15) with three friends and was a assaulted by one of your older female ushers in the field seating area. This staff member grabbed my arm and yanked me backward while I was heading for the bathroom/food area under main sections 1-8. She did it because she ASSUMED that I was heading towards an area cleared as a big aisle/walk space between the first few rows of field seating ( A-H?) and the rest of field seating/standing room area. (Other people had continuously tried to stand in/ block this walk way.) To be clear, this occurred between acts. I was walking in an AISLE way, separating the (left side of the) second half of field seating (I-P?) and the standing room area. I am now going to refer to this aisle as A1. The only two options from where we were standing, were to walk towards the stage or away from it in order to find an aisle to allow you to exit to the sides. The aisles that exited to the sides were either the big walk space (A2), as mentioned earlier, or the area behind the last row of field seating (A3). Considering that people, including this usher were blocking us from walking towards the back, we chose to walk in the direction of the stage. There were other people STANDING and WALKING in this same aisle way. There was no sign or any usher saying that you cannot walk in this direction in order to exit the floor. There were ushers up at the head of the standing area, keeping people from blocking A2. There was absolutely no reason to target me. I was following my friends, making me the caboose. As soon as I entered A1 from the standing area, she began following me, yelling, "do you have seats here?!" she repeated this THREE times. Each time I responded with my intentions but continued forward until she grabbed my arm from behind with enough force that I tripped backward. At this point I told her yes, so she would let me go. My friends, as well as people standing nearby witnessed this the interaction. She then continued to follow me until I entered, and subsequently, exited A2. Again, there were plenty of other people walking in this aisle. Any loiterers were sent away by the other ushers already guarding A2. There was and is no excuse for the assault. I was not breaking any rules. With or without having seats in the field area, I was fully within my rights to use A1 to exit the floor. It was an aisle way intended for use. QUESTIONING, not assault, would have only been necessary had I loitered in an area I was not suppose to be in. Also, unbeknownst to your staff member, I was /still am recovering from a neck injury ( I incurred earlier in the week), which was aggravated by the assault. While this incident is certainly the most important reason for choosing not to return to your venue, its not the only one. As I said before, this venue is completely unorganized. For instance, my group arrived at the field seating area early, and stood in the standing room area as designated by the ushers at 6:11pm. By 6:34 pm, other people ignored the invisible line, and the ushers did nothing. By 6:45pm, the invisible line had changed, and the ushers moved only a fraction of those people back. By 7pm, more people arrived, ignoring the new line again. Ushers did nothing. It was not until the end of the first act that the ushers decided on a new line, and pushed people behind that. At that point there were enough people in front of us that when they pushed back, people like us, who were there first, were moved from their original spots. Ushers and security also do nothing when people decide to sit on each others shoulders and block the view of people behind them. Which is also a liability issue. "

BR

Brandon Langston

The treatment was terrible. venue itself is enormous and breathtaking, and being there to see Twenty One Pilots, the show itself was phenomenal. However, Hershey Park did a horrible job hosting the event and looking out for the well-being of its customers there to see the show. A large number of us were there as early as we could be to begin forming a line at 9 AM and waited until 5:30 to be let through the gates. All of those hours, outside in 90+ degree weather, direct sun, in a large crowd, without a water fountain around. We were not allowed to bring in any food and as far as drinks were concerned, only one unopened bottle was permitted. One unopened bottle, on a day like this, standing for hours in a packed crowd, and if we wanted water we had to pay $3 for a bottle, $4 for a lemonade. Fully aware that Hershey, as a business, must make a profit, but after the first couple hours, making hundreds if not thousands of dollars just on water sales, with no exaggeration I can say that their treatment and lack of care was immoral. The most they contributed was to hook up a sprinkler that did close to nothing for us. During the concert then, many people passed out and were carried off by seemingly unsympathetic security. When we could not leave our spots in the center of the crowd, the security would occasionally throw the contents of a water bottle out onto us or open a single bottle and instruct us to pass it around and take a sip. Hershey Park, on a day such as this, should have felt it absolutely necessary to provide free cups of water for us, as I nearly passed out and saw others around me lose consciousness form dehydration and heat exhaustion. No shade, no water unless we wished to shell out almost if not all of our money simply for enough liquid to remain hydrated, and no apparent consideration for the exhaustion and dehydration of their customers. All it would have taken was an effort by an extraordinarily wealthy company to put the health of even the couple hundred guest waiting all day above their desire to make as much profit as possible. Not allowing us to bring in our own drinks would be understandable if it was in the park itself, where there are fountains and where food buildings are required to give free cups of water, but NONE of that was possible while waiting all day or for anyone else in the venue lest they wished to push through an entire crowd simply to stay hydrated and then lose the spot they waited for all day. There is no excuse, and if they had made a caring effort to provide water, the would be getting a four if not five star review. The trouble that ensued on this hot of a day from their lack of consideration was profound.

HI

Hi Performance Transmission

Shame on Hershey for locating all their venues (theme park, stadium, Giant Center & Chocolate World) all together. There are enough people visiting the amusement park and Chocolate World on any given day, then throw in 30,000 people for a concert when the parking lots are already full and you have a disaster. I had never been to this stadium for a concert and we had to park across a busy highway, up on a hill in a grass lot and then trek over a mile in 90+ degree heat to get to the stadium. Field seats are jammed together folded metal chairs and you are literally touching shoulders with the people beside you, who are also sweaty. The rest of the stadium is benches, not seats, so that would not have been anymore comfortable. After the concert, when it is almost midnight, came out of the stadium, after being treated at the medic station for heat exhaustion, and was totally confused on how to get back to that grass parking lot. No signs, no information available. Had to ask several traffic directors who already had their hands full directing an overload of traffic. Loved the concert, but will NEVER return there for a concert.

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